Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1887-08-13
PROHIBITION IN KANSAS.
Governor Martin Writes a Caustic Let
ter to the Agent of the Associated
Press Refuting Certain Mali
cious Charges.

the verge Of bankruptcy, that the
police force had been disbanded, that
the services of firemen had been dis
pensed with and that the gas and
electric lights had been shut off for
the want of funds, Governor Martin
recently addressed a communication
to the agent of the Associated Press
at Chicago, in which he says: "This
dispatch was utilized by the Associa-
ted Press, and thus published all over
the country. AS a result 1 have re-
ceived many letters from different
sections, making inquiries as to the
truth of the statement it embodied,
and have SCENTS alleged facts COM
mented on in dozens of newspapers,
as evidence that the abolition of sa-
looms has reduced a prosperous city
i'll Kansas to the verge of bankruptcy.
Similar letters have been received by
the Mayor of Atchison, and by many
other cities of Kansas. The dispatch
referred to was prompted by two mo
tives. 1t was first sent from a town
in Missouri for the purpose of injur-
ing a rival city in Kansas and sec
Ond, it was inspired by the whisky
interest and to create the impression
that an efficient city government
could not be maintained without the
revenue derived from salOoA licenses.
The city of AtchisOn has been for
many years n of the most import
ant railroad and commercial centers
of Kansas. 1t has a population of
about $4,000 people. If the whisky
interest could create the impression
that AtchisOn had been materially
injured because the saloons had been
driven out of it, a serious blow would
be dealt the temperance cause. The
Associated Press, in giving this false
special such a wide publicity, was
made the unconscious agent of a ma
licious slanderer whose purposes were
as unworthy as his statements were
unfounded. deem it my duty to
correct the false impressions thus ere
ated, and respectfully ask that this
letter be given as wide a publication
as the dispatch which prompted it,
The Governor then gave a brief his.
tory of the war on saloons in Atchi.
son, the continued prosperity and
growth of the city since the saloons
were closed, the public works and
street improvements now being push
ed forward, and closes by giving q
brief review of prohibition in Kansas
as follows:
The whisky interests predicted thai
the abolition of saloons in Kansas
would injuriously affect the material
prosperity of the State, and falsehoods
intended to confirm this view are con
stantly invented and circulated il
every section of the country, and es
pecially in States where movement!
are being made to Danish the saloons
| am receiving letters daily from
different States making inquiries con
corning the effects and results of on
temperance laws on the financial
commercial and other material in
tereStS of our State, and these letter
all indicate that the work of malign
ing Kansas is going on in every sec
ton of the country. Permit me
therefore, to give you the real facts
The Prohibition amendment to on
constitution was adopted in the au
tumn of 1880, and the first laws to en-
force it went into effect in May, 1881
The war to Danish saloons was, 70
some years, only partially successful
The amendment had been adOpte,
by a very meager majority and publ
sentiment in all our larger cities wa
overwhelming against it. AS late a
January, 1885, saloons were open il
fully thirty Of the larger cities Of tn
State. But steadily and surely tn
public sentiment against them sprea,
and intensified. The small majorit
that had voted for the amendmen
was reinforced, first by those law-re
specting citizens who are always will.
ing to subordinate their persona
opinions to the majesty Of the law
and, second, by an equally larg
number who, observing the practices
results following the abolition Of Sc
looms in different towns and cities, bt
came convinced that Kansas woul
be more prosperous, happy and in a
respects a better community of peopl
if it had not an open saloon With
its borders. So the sentiment of Kar
sas against the liquor traffic has grow
and strengthened until today 1 yer
much doubt whether of its 10000
,,olo ,,otor, ,,oro 4bop * OO0 u,Orl,